The mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation in explaining the correlation between behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition system with depression

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders. Exploring the vulnerabilities of this disorder and how these factors relate to each other remains a fundamental issue in mental health. The aim of this study was to determine the mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation in explaining the correlation between behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition with depression. For this purpose, in a descriptive correlational study, 200 students of Ahvaz Islamic Azad University were selected by convenience sampling method and tested for emotion regulation, behavioral activation and inhibition system, and depression. Evaluation of structural pattern using statistical indicators showed that behavioral inhibition has a significant correlation with depression. The results showed that the direct correlation between behavioral activation and depression and the difficult correlation between emotion regulation and depression were not significant. Therefore, it can be argued that the hypothetical model can better explain the relationships between research variables than the competing model. Difficulty in regulating emotion is a mediating variable in the relationship between behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition with depression, and by controlling this variable, the role of behavioral activation and behavioral inhibition on the symptoms of depression can be controlled.